How do you become the best?

Originally Posted by Ken_Caudill

Why would anyone at the top tell you?

Originally Posted by LauraKryza

So really, you're asking about how to be famous instead of skilled. Edison was a complete jerk, and that's putting it nicely. He stole Tesla's ideas, mocked him for the inventions he eventually claimed, and underpaid Tesla for the tireless work he put in while Edison himself grew wealthy. Oh, and he literally got him killed. Tesla's arms were amputated after too much exposure to x-rays, after which he died. I would advise not becoming the sort of person Edison was.

Sorry if that sounds a bit venemous, it's not exactly directed at you. I hate Edison as a person, so not the best analogy in my mind.

My question is, why are you so focused on being the most notorious copywriter instead of one that earns more than enough to support himself and any family? If your happiness is tied to being "seen" instead of getting results, I'm not sure how long your happiness will last.

If you want your name to be heard, one easy way is to gain celebrity by association. Work with those who are already famous, heck, even interview them. Part of that exposure rubs off on you. Go to marketing events. Speak at marketing events. Get interviewed by the press.

Thankfully, other than that, copywriting tends to be a fairly insular field. If you want to be known as the guy that wrote a package that earned millions for the big publishers... well, write a package that earns millions for the big publishers. Word spreads fast in the industry, and if you want others to know about that, then just keep putting yourself out there.

Originally Posted by Steve The Copywriter

Yea given a choice I would Tesla and never Edison.

Ben, you don't have to be the best in the whole wide universe.

Chances are people will spend their lives trying to knock you down.

Just be the best for all your clients.


Steve


P.S. Anyway you can't be the best because Laura is (lol)

She won a prize. And quite right too.

Originally Posted by Daniel Scott

The best practical advice on this I got from Parris Lampropoulos. He said he worked his ass off for a few years then started beating controls. Once he got his first master hit everyone wanted to hire him and his phone never really stopped ringing.

It depends how you want to be renowned, too. Lots of people don't know Parris' name but all the players in the health markets know him and his work quite well. Whether or not he's "famous" as such in your eyes, I don't know.

I'll also say that the guys who stay at the top (or near it) have a positive view on it. They're competing against themselves primarily, not their peers. Their main motivation is to better themselves, not to see where they "stack up" against other greats.

I remember in the Bencivenga 100 seminar, Gary Bencivenga said a lot of his success came from knowing when to try and beat a control and when not to. He pointed out some of the amazing copy talent in the room (Halbert, Makepeace etc) and said he never wanted to have to try and beat a control they've written... it's too hard.

Yet he's billed as the highest-paid (and in some people's eyes, best) copywriter of all time (and you better believe he wanted this to happen.)

There's no magic answer here, and I doubt you'll get one. But I figured I'd at least share some thoughts.

Originally Posted by Alex Cohen

Ben,

Doug D'Anna, an A-list copywriter who writes for the big mailers, has an offer that would help you with your goal...

Doug D'Anna's A-List: One-on-One Coaching

Alex

Originally Posted by Alex Cohen

Doug D'Anna, an A-list copywriter who writes for the big mailers, has an offer that would help you with your goal...

Originally Posted by Doug D'Anna

As I've mentioned many times, I'm a big collector of old advertising and copywriting books.

Why? Because many of the techniques these masters discovered years ago hold true today.
I have used many of them in the past and still refer to these ideas today.

However, as John Caples, Claude M. Bristol, Robert Collier, and John E. Kennedy would tell you if they were still alive, simply copying their techniques will never give you the breakthroughs you're looking for or set you apart as an A-list copywriter.

To be sure, I'm not going to say that those tested ideas won't work for you. But they were designed for specific products at that time--and not necessarily for what you are trying to sell now.

Why is this important?

Because when you send your copywriting samples to publishers, marketers, and entrepreneurs, you will not be perceived as an original copywriter. They will see you as someone who may be a good mimic, but that is not what they are looking for.

They are looking for original copywriters with their own ideas, experts who may have mastered the techniques of the past--and didn't just copy them.

One of my clients recently told me that he receives so many "Caples wannabe" packages from copywriters that he doesn't even bother to read them. He throws them directly in the trash.

Can you blame him?

1. He sees nothing original in the writer's work, and
2. His products are far too important to leave to a copywriter who merely copies somebody else's approach.

Most new copywriters wouldn't know this, but the publishers and marketers I work with know who has written a direct mail package they receive in the mail because they, for the most part, know the selling styles of all the top copywriters.

I would venture to say that if you sent three publishers a Gary Bencivenga package, a Doug D'Anna package, a Bob Bly package, and a Clayton Makepeace package, they would know exactly who wrote each one.

The reason is simple: each one of us has our own unique selling style.

If you want to rise to the top of the A-list, you must develop your own personal selling style--and not simply mimic one of the greats from the past.

Believe it or not, one way to develop your own personal copywriting style is to take a sales course--and not just by reading sales books.

Truth is, if there's a reason why I've had such great success in copywriting, it is because I'm not a writer--I'm a salesman who types for a living.

By attending a basic sales class you will learn so many things that you never could by just reading a sales book. You must learn what it feels like to be face-to-face with a customer. To identify what it takes to persuade them. To answer their objections in real time. You will not only learn to see and feel their emotions but also know how to react to them.

I promise you this: If you take a sales class, my friend, you will gain an overwhelming advantage over copywriters who only take writing classes.

How can I make such a claim? It's easy. Most copywriters are introverts and fear selling!

They send samples of their work with cover letters and never follow up. They're afraid of hearing "no" on the phone. So on one hand the copywriter's job is all about selling, but on the other hand, many are afraid to sell themselves.

In some ways, I was the same way.

But I got over that when I spent two years out of copywriting in the 1980s, selling real estate and making no money. My lack of sales didn't mean I was a bad salesman. It's just that through it all I learned something more important: I liked selling: I just didn't like selling real estate.

I liked writing copy from the convenience of my home and not driving a bunch of strangers from house to house. I'm sure you know what I mean.

Yet, the techniques I learned from my two years of selling real estate moved me from charging $1,500 per package to $10,000 per package within nine months of getting back into the business.

My success wasn't because I was any kind of a better writer. I enjoyed a higher degree of success because I was a better--and battle-hardened--put-the-money-in-the-envelope-please salesman.

For these reasons, I believe I enjoy more success than most copywriters when it comes to launching new products. Why? Because I'm not thinking of which Caples headline I'm going to steal.

I have discovered my own personal selling style and I'm going to use that.

So please, as a future A-list copywriter, promise me this:

1. Don't send publishers or marketers any kind of Caples rehash,

2. Develop your own personal selling style that stands out, and

3. Take a sales course!

Do this and I promise you'll rise to the top of the A-list much faster than you could ever imagine--and get paid even more for your copywriting work.

All good wishes,

Doug



PS If you like the copywriting and business-building advice I offer you in the A-list and feel that you could benefit from my personal coaching, I'd like to tell you about a coaching opportunity that I will be offering in 2008.

No, it's not a copywriting class--but a course that that I consider far more important--selling yourself as a copywriter.

As I've continued to mention in my e-mails over the past 12 months, there are hundreds of copywriters who may be more talented than I am with words. But what they aren't is better salespeople.

Frankly, I kick their fannies all over the place.

That's really what most copywriters simply don't get. They invest all their time and money taking copywriting courses only to struggle to find work.

When I started out in my business, I had declared myself a copywriter and had one sample to my name--that's it. Yet it was my ability to pick up the phone, send samples, and call people and CLOSE THE DEAL that resulted in my success.

© Copyright 2007 Doug D'Anna

Originally Posted by MikeHumphreys

How do you become the best at anything?

There's some natural ability (i.e. a 5'3" man probably will never make it in the NBA as a center because he's too short).

The rest is heart and the relentless desire to keep practicing and honing your skills until someday your peers say that you're one of the best.

Here's a nice NFL football example for you:

Early in his career, Peyton Manning started throwing 100 balls after football practice to his teammate, wide receiver Marvin Harrison. Rain or shine... tired or not tired... it didn't matter. It was always 100 balls after practice with the two men.

They'd run every route combination in the Colts offense until they became instinctual. They'd run plays where they'd ad-lib... Harrison would break off his original route and go where there was an opening in the defense and Manning would throw him the ball.

Manning always knew where Harrison was going to be on the field for every single pass play, even when the pass rush was coming and he had to get rid of the ball fast. Harrison always knew where Manning was going to put the ball when it was coming his way too. And it came his way a lot of the time.

It's no coincidence that both men broke all kinds of NFL records when they were playing together.

Most people know what Manning has done in his career to date but what Harrison did was amazing too.

In a typical NFL season, the vast majority of the NFL wide receivers catch 90 balls or less for the 16 game season. I'd estimate 90% of them are under 90 catches for the year.

But Marvin Harrison had 90 receptions or more 5 years in a row, including one season (2002) where he set an NFL record of 143 receptions in a season... a record that still stands today. Every single one of those record-setting passes that he caught that year, was thrown to him by his equally hard-working quarterback, Peyton Manning.

Harrison retired from the NFL in 2009 (I think) but Manning is still playing. At some point, I predict both Manning and Harrison will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame... because they are among the elite group of NFL players who were considered the best at what they did. They got there with some natural ability, a lot of heart and a lot of relentless desire.

Food for thought,

Mike